Brendan paid an Ol lot less
Stand-in fees for show’s new host Callan
BRENDAN Courtney will be paid €400 per shift filling in on the RTE Radio One 9am show, the Irish Sunday Mirror can reveal.
This comes after new host Oliver Callan disclosed he will be earning €150,000 a year – almost double what Courtney will get for holiday cover.
Courtney, 52, has been rotating the weekday morning slot with satirist Callan, 43, since Ryan Tubridy’s departure last June.
Callan was confirmed as the new host last weekend and will be back on the airwaves tomorrow for his first day as permanent host.
A source at RTE revealed: “Brendan’s holiday cover contract has been renewed for another two years. When he does cover, he earns €400 per shift.
“Depending on when presenters take holidays dictates when he gets a shift on air.”
Former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy, 50, was earning €12,500 a month before negotiations to renew his contract broke down.
He joined Virgin Media Radio earlier this month following his abrupt and public departure from RTE amid a payments scandal.
A Montrose insider said morale
remains low since the scandal broke with those on floating contracts feeling the pinch.
The source continued: “A lot of people are gone, a lot of people on no fixed-term contracts are gone.
“A lot of people have already lost their jobs. Those on floating contracts are gone.
“All the teams will be pared back by two or three people, that’s younger people. It’s very hard. It’s a scary time. Big changes are coming.” Describing RTE’S new Director General Kevin Bakhurst as “a very sharp driven leader”, the source added: “I think people are nervous about what the outcomes are going to be.”
An internal report by Mccann Fitzgerald solicitors into voluntary exit packages at RTE could be published as early as next week and is expected to stir up more anger.
Sources said the report is “extensive” and will cause a fresh backlash from staff after some who wanted to take redundancy were denied it.
RTE commissioned a review last year into two voluntary exit package schemes from 2017 to 2021, after it emerged at an Oireachtas hearing its former chief financial officer Breda O’keeffe was paid redundancy though her role was not made redundant.
It’s very hard. It’s a scary time. Big changes are coming